The “Cheetah” Website Update Goes Live

Posted by Adam Pick, March 2, 2015

Hi Everybody,

Sorry for being a little quiet as of late. So you know, we’ve been working on a very significant website update.

“Why?” you might be wondering. Well, after we relaunched our website last August, we were not completely prepared for the increased traffic and patient interactions across the website. As we reviewed the website code, we found several opportunities to optimize the code and implement new technologies to enhance your experience at HeartValveSurgery.com (HVS).

Over 1,000,000 Updates in Cheetah

When we started this website in 2006, we had 3 pages of content. Now, our website has over 10,000 pages of content. On each of these pages, we made up to 150 code adjustments with this update. That said, this update — which is nicknamed Cheetah — had over 1 million adjustments to the code.

But, that’s not all… We also implemented a world wide Content Delivery Network (CDN). Using our CDN, we have taken about 75% of the static assets (images, scripts, etc.) from our internal servers and distributed those files to many servers that are positioned across the planet. Now, for the first time, our global community is accessing content that is served-up right in your own backyard. Ultimately, this really speeds up the time that information flows from our servers to your browser.

Here’s a diagram that shows how CDNs work.

The Implementation and… The Results

We have been working on the Cheetah Update since last October. However, we did not start implementing the code adjustments until February. Since then, the implementation has been happening across the website — on daily basis.

So far… The results of this implementation have been encouraging. We are seeing page speeds increase significantly. In some instances, we are seeing pages load 50% faster than before. And… For the first time, we have pages that are loading under 1 second — in just 562 milliseconds (or .56 seconds).

Ultimately, our hope is that faster page speed means faster time for you to enjoy and engage with the content and the people in this community.

Are We Done Yet?

The simple answer to that question is… nope. Even with these enhancements, there are several new projects that we are working on. Interestingly… In the very near future, we are preparing to launch two new educational platforms and a social app that is very different and… very fun.